Harleen
by alexrusso89
Summary: First story of my DC Noire-Verse Set after the Joker 2019 movie. Doctor Harleen Quinzel has been tasked with tryin to pry the information from Arthur Fleck, however with Gotham still at war with each other can she suceed
1. Chapter 1

Doctor Harleen Quinnzel walked into the tiny, cluttered basement room office . Her lips were drawn into a tight, determined line as she threw a manila folder on top of the mountain of papers and photographs burying what might have been, at one point, a very nice office desk. Doctor Hugo Strange , had his hands folded behind his head, and was currently using the desk himself-as a footrest.

"No."

Green eyes opened at the uttered syllable and glinted over the toes of polished black shoes. "'Morning, have you got everything?"

"Sir, I said no. I'm not going. This is ridiculous, even by your standards."

"What ?"

"Fleck? ."

"Did you read the file before throwing it at me?"

"I wouldn't have thrown it at you if I hadn't read it."

"Good then you know about the riots he caused which led to the death of the Wayne's so Doctor. I suggest you deal with it ".

"Sir he is insane, this is a bad idea, he shot those bankers on the subway ,you're more insane than I already thought!"

"Alleged" Strange corrected with a lazy smirk. "The only one we know of is Murray Franklin, look we need him to tell is everything, and im your senior doctor and its an order"

Harleen sighed, tapped her fingers against her folded arms. "You really think that's all it is?"

"What else could it possibly be?," he ignored her snort, "and also after the riots, Gotham is rebuilding ."

"So theres more to it then ."

"So you admit, there's something there that makes you curious?"

Harleen threw her hands up—in exasperation, in surrender. "Fine! I'll do it."

And she absolutely did not smile as he called after her, "Good luck doctor!."


	2. Chapter 2

It is the sunlight that wakes her. Her eyes snap open and the dim remains of a headache fade from her skull. She reaches up to rub her eyes, and her fingers push against the lenses of her glasses.

The subway car continues to rattle along, brief glimpses of day vanishes as it enters a tunnel.

"A mental shutdown?" Two schoolgirls stand by the train car's door, arms wrapped around handrails, heads dipped together in conversation.

"Mmmhmm," the second girl says. "I heard about it online. Apparently he shot the guy's brains out on live tv."

"Geez, that's scary."

"That's not all, I heard he also shot those banker guys on that train two weeks ago."

The first girl frowns, "But, can that really happen to someone? I mean, I know there's that aneurism thing that kills you instantly, or something, but it doesn't make you act crazy, right?"

The second replies with a shrug and a giggle. "Who knows? Maybe there's some kind of gas in the subway tunnels that made him go crazy."

"Don't say that when we're on the subway!"

The train reaches the east Gtoham station, and Harleen steps off and mixes with the people on the platform. Her shoulders slump forward, her hands are shoved deep in her pockets, her eyes are fixed on the ground. She walks.

And walks.

The sheer amount of people in Gotham, its so congested. Hundreds of pedestrians slide past her on the sidewalk. Their eyes look everywhere but at her. She is fine with this.

"Hey bitch, keep it moving!" Harley turns and finds a middle-aged salaryman scowling up at her. "We can't all just stand around doing nothing." The man regards Harley's nurse uniform and shakes his head in disgust. "Damn bitch, doing nothing to help people."

Harley's mind snarls. "I apologize, sir. Excuse me."

The man clicks his tongue and moves around her.

Harley continues to the station.

Arkham State Hospital. The place feels forgotten. Harley supposes there could be some charm to this Hospital, but it is hidden beneath the grit that cakes everything.

She passes the Pharmacy, a movie room and bunch of cells, before reaching a door.

Nerves set in. She knows nothing about Arthur Fleck, the man who she will be interviewing. This has all been arranged.

She opens the door and steps inside. Her eyes take a moment to adjust to the dim interior. A series of lockers line the wall, with benches and tables and chairs on the other side. It is cramped and quiet.

A man sits on a stool. He wears a pink shirt. His hair, is a lustrous black, and his beard is stylized into a point. A newspaper is in his hands, but the man looks bored. At the sound of Harley's entrance, the man glances at her.

The two regard each other for a moment, as Harley tries to decide what to say. Then the man sighs and says, " your early today Doctor Quinzel."

Harleen clears her throat and says, "Morning Doctor Crane, yes i had to be."

Doctor Crane folds the paper and deposits it onto the counter with practiced hands. "Why is that?" He asked. Harley walks deeper into the room. Crane hesitates, then follows. Just past the tables is a bathroom, " Because Strange wants me to interview Fleck" Harley replies, " The clown guy?" Crane replies, Harley nods.

A small grin plays itself out across Crane's face. "That's life, kid. Better get used to it."

Harley stoops a bit more, lowers her eyes and says, "Yes "

" Gotta go " Crane says. Then the man leaves, without as much as a handshake.

Harley moves and sits down on the nearby chair. "Why me?" She says to no one.

In this moment, Harleen Quinzel has never felt so alone.


	3. Chapter 3

Dr. Quinzel sits at a table in a small interview room, she is looking over her file. The sudden knock at the door gets her attention, she looks up just as it opens to reveal an orderly and Arthur Fleck.

" Good morning mr Fleck" Harley says as the Orderly sits Arthur down in the chair opposite her. " So lets begin shall we?" Harley says.

Arthur looks at her and smiles " I'll tell you a story about myself. Growing up, my mother and I had very little. Cheap food, used clothes. Even the mat I slept on. She'd found it in a pile of trash a few blocks from our apartment. One less thing we needed to purchase with her already stretched paycheck."

"One thing we did have though, was an antique bell. Well, I say antique, but it was likely worth less than five hundred. It was this small white thing, with red flourishes running across it that used to make me think of the wind. When you held it, you could feel the little imperfections through the paint, but they were so small you couldn't see them with the naked eye. We hung it just above the door to our apartment."

Harley looked confused, Arthur continued on.

"I was a frightful child. Our neighborhood wasn't very safe, and my mother's job forced her to leave me alone for long hours of the night. I hated the dark, but I would endure it, because sooner or later, I would hear the bell chime as our door opened, and I knew my mother was home. She would come and check on me then, and I would drift off to sleep."

"It got to the point where the simple jingle of the bell was enough to send me to sleep. I didn't even need her to check on me. If the bell rang, that meant my mother was home, and that meant I was safe."

"Then one night, the bell didn't ring. My mother didn't come home. I stayed awake that whole night, staring at the ceiling, afraid to shut my eyes. The sun came up, and the sun went down, and I didn't move. The bell didn't ring. I stayed in that room, under those covers, for three days, waiting for that bell to ring. It didn't. On the third night the police finally came and collected me. They told me what had happened to my mother. Told me what would happen to me."

"But some part of me, and some part of me still, cannot understand why the bell never rang. Part of me is still wide awake in that room, in that rotting apartment, waiting for the soft jingle that would mean, safe. Sometimes, I'll lie awake at night and wait for it, even though I know it's never coming."

"I didn't tell you this story to make you sympathetic towards me. This isn't supposed to help you resonate with me more, or allow us to understand each other better. I just wanted to illustrate that everyone is scared of something. Even me. And I hope you'll be honest with me when I ask you, what are you afraid of?"

" excuse me?"

Arthur looked Harley dead in the eye

"Well, what are you afraid of, Dr Quinzel?"

" Im not sure how this helps"

"They put you in a box. Everything you are, everything you've ever done or could do, everything you wish you could be, all the love and drive and dreams you carry in your heart, all the things that connect you to others, all of it. For all of it, they put you in a box."

Arthur leans over, his eyes inches from Harley's own. "Just remember, Quinzel. There's always a way out."


	4. Chapter 4

Harley doesn't so much drop into her chair as she does collapse. The staff room is empty save for her, and assured of her solitude, she lets out a long, angry, and deep groan. "Why me?" She folds her arms atop her desk and rests her head on them. A mentally ill patient is one thing, but this one has a criminal record. She almost felt bad for Fleck. Sure, what he did was horrible, but it felt wrong.

Speaking of... did he really kill five people? "I guess you really can't judge a book by..." the cliché dissolves into a yawn. God, but she's tired.

The door to the office opens and a tall, lean figure steps inside. "Ah, Doctor Quinzel, so good to see you!" Doctor Wells calls, holding up a hand in greeting.

Harley rolls her eyes. Great. This creep. "Good morning, Doctor Wells."

"Oh, come on now, we've known each other too long for such formalities." His bright smile reminds her of bleach for some reason.

"What brings you here?" She asks.

"Well, Central City metal hospital felt my talents would be better suited here."

You mean you got transferred cause they didnt like you? "Ah, that's right. I must've forgotten about it." Something flashes across Wells's face, a terrible mix of rage and arrogance. Then it is gone, and his smile returns. Books and covers. Her grandmother had been an avid book collector, but had been terrible at keeping them in good condition. Once, when Harleen was a little girl, she visited her grandmother's house and snuck up to the attic. She found a fairytale book with an elaborate blue and gold stitched cover. Excited in the way that only little girls can be, she'd opened the cover to the first page. A millipede the size of her hand had scuttled out and wrapped itself around her wrist. She'd screamed until she lost her voice.

She knows, that behind the cover Dr Harrison Wells shows to the world, lurks something else. If things were different, perhaps she could do something. But things aren't different. They are the way they are, and Harley has her own problems.

"Well, I just dropped by to see if anyone was in the staff room," Wells says. Why? Harley thinks. "I should get going. Have a good weekend."

He leaves, and Harley sticks her tongue out at the shut door. "Jackass," she mumbles. Alright then, Arthur Fleck. There has to be something she can do, maybe get him assigned to someone else?

The perfect person pops into her mind. Pleased with herself, Harley picks up the phone, finds the right number, and dials.

Someone picks up on the second ring. "Hi, it's Doctor Quinzel. I'm sorry to bother you, but I'd like your help with something."

A hand grips her shoulder. Harley is spun into the face of a man in a white jumpsuit, and carries a small case with a red cross on it in his hands. Harley knows he should understand what all this mean, but her mind isn't functioning properly, there is a loud ringing. The words the man shouts at her are jumbled nonsense. He speaks a few times, before he gives up and pats Harley down. He shines a light in her eyes and moves it back and forth. Harley's gaze follows it. He holds up his finger and does the same thing. Harley's gaze follows it. He nods, and gently pushes Harley towards the door.

More men in white are pouring down the steps, and spreading themselves out among the injured. Harley understands that this is a rescue operation, and that something had exploded in a near by room. Harley staggers to the nearby seat.


	5. Chapter 5

Harley was spending the Saturday night in a local club, after the week she had she wanted and needed to unwind. She had been there for a few hours. Her vision grows hazy. What she sees begins to twist into other shapes. The club is gone, disintegrated, and in its place Harley sees a pair of deep blue eyes staring at her, full of concern. A grin spreads across her face.

The face surrounding the eyes grows more solid, more distinct. The sound that drew her attention resolves into a set of snapping fingers held just before her face. "Can you hear me?" The woman asks, her voice touched with panic. "Harleen? Dammit, what the hell did they inject you with?"

Oh.

Harley is in her dimly lit apartment, smells wet from dirty water, sweat and blood. There was a man here not too long ago, but now she is alone save for the woman her flatmate And long time best friend Pamela Isley.

Harley's mouth creaks open. "I-"

Pamela blinks in surprise.

"I can hear you, Pam"

The professor sighs, folds her arms together and leans back in the chair. Her air of concern is gone, replaced with a familiar sternness. "I thought I'd lost you there. Your eyes glazed over and you didn't respond to anything. For a second, well, never mind."

Harley groans, drops and rests her head against the cool tabletop.

"Hey," Pamela shouts. She slaps the table with her open palm, and a stinging thwack bounces through her skull. "Sit up! Don't think, for one second, your getting out of this."

"Getting out of what?"

"You know the rules, no guys here"

Harley stares at Pam in confusion

"You don't know what I'm talking about?"

"No. "

Pam suddenly hugs Harley, she mumbles soft words, They are low, but Harley and just hear. "I'm so sorry, we will get him back for this, I promise."

Harley opens her mouth, but Pamela cuts her off. "Shush," she says, her voice a painful croak. "Guy Gardner will pay."


	6. Chapter 6

Harleen slides her pager back into her jacket's pocket. She is greeted by the sound of the door opening, she turns and looks up.

There, stands the Arthur Fleck. Similarly dressed in a Arkham inmate uniform, the orderly gestures to the chair, when.

"Ah!" He shouts, and smiles wide. "Miss Quinzel"

Harleen nods. "Arthur"

"No no no " Arthur says, gesturing to himself. "Call me Joker!"

"Uh-huh," Harleen replies.

"So does the doctor fear me that much?"

Harleen's eyes narrow. "I dont fear you"

"Well your-"

"Let me explain how this works," Harleen cuts in. "You see me, we talk. I leave. That's all."

The Joker frowns, but nods. "Very well."

Harleen stares at the man for a moment, then Joker breaks out into a laugh. Harleen's frown deepens. When he can, Arthur says, "Has anyone told you your hame sounds like Harlequin?"

" Are you joking?"

Arthur's laughter stops, and he stares past Harleen towards the far wall.

"Explain," she says. "Now."

Arthur does, and the more he speaks, the more Harleen chides herself for being surprised.

"So, if I understand this correctly," Harleen says, once Arthur finishes his story. "Almost immediately after you killed Franklin Murray, on live tv i should add, you continued on your merry way, killed a former work colleague, and started the single biggest riots Gotham has ever seen" Harleen pauses. "And because of how you were treated?"

Arthur says nothing.

"I am," Harleen says. "Impressed you have managed to be this fucked up."

"How dare you?" Arthur shouts. "Im Joker!"

"I think this concludes today," Harleen says, as she walks away.

"W-why?" Arthur shouts. Harleen exits the room and into the hallway. And she absolutely did not smile as he called after her, "Bye Harley Quinn!." Followed by his trademark laughter.


	7. Chapter 7

That night Harleen sat at home watching WWE Raw. As she did, she smiled being drawn into the world and drama of the WWE. And Harleen couldnt help it. She wanted to be like Becky Lynch the man.

Announcer: A rivalry that started out as strictly business…

(Shows The man Becky Lynch and Harleen , in the ring looking at each other)

Becky: You want to face the champion? Well you have to get in line.

Harleen: Who gave you the right to decide who the challenger is? Besides the last time I checked I beat you in our match last week.

Becky : The simple fact im the man, that's why.

Harleen : Oh please, I can beat you anytime anywhere. In fact I can beat you right now.

Becky: Wanna bet?

Harleen: Let's go (turns to the entrance and yells) GET A REF OU…. (Becky attacks Harleen)

Becky : If you want a shot at this title(Alex points to one of the belts hanging on her shoulder) Then you have to prove it

Announcer: Turned into something personal

(Becky just stands in front of the ring for a minute staring, the bell rings, Becky then runs in and immediately tackles Harleen and starts punching her in the face.)

Graves: The man is full of emotion

(Harleen then spins Becky around and goes to punch her but Becky blocks it and pulls Harleen's legs out from under her and then gets on top of her and starts punching her in the face again, then she goes and gets two chairs and throws them into the ring)

Graves: Oh now all hell is about to break loose. Becky is going to get some payback.

( Becky sets up but Harleen hits and RKO on Becky)

Cole: Do we have a new Raw women's champion?" he says as the ref goes over and counts 1…2…3 and rings the bell) We do.

Ring Announcer: Here is your winner and the NEW WWE RAW WOMEN'S CHAMPION HARLEEN QUINZEL!

-the next day-

Apparently, some people had caught Harleen's pike at Arthur and his bout of anger in their interview. Needless to say the others gave her a wide berth. Harleen was actually grateful. This meant no one would get in her way.

Harleen turned when she heard the staff room close behind her

"Did you need anything from me, Doctor Crane?"

"Yes."

Harleen tensed. As doctor Crane began undoing his pants. Then he grabbed Harleen and pinned her on the nearby desk, violently removing her panties. Harleen froze. That wasn't what she expected to find. Beating? Fine. Rape? No. Not on her watch.

" You think can tease me?, everyday with your single ass."

The moment Crane's pants and boxers were down, a foot suddenly connected with his groin.

"AAAAAARG!"

Crane reared. It was like dozens of tiny razors digging in his crotch, and right as his lower body was getting really sensitive. Harleen didn't hesitate. She kicked him in the balls, causing him to stumble. Mercy Graves the women who had kicked Crane from behind moved away while Harleen put her panties back on. Then they ran for the exit.

Crane hobbled out the door into the hallway not long after them, but just far enough behind to see them enter Hugo Strange's office.

" Shit"


End file.
